Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to oblige electricity supply companies to forward feed-in tariff payments to small or domestic suppliers to a similar timescale as that which applies to small or domestic customers.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Payments to generators are based on generation meter readings and must be made at least quarterly. There is no restriction on FIT licensees making payments more frequently; generators may wish to consider this when choosing a FIT licensee or deciding to switch FIT licensees.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

British Indian Ocean Territory

Lord Ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the discussions with the government of the US over the extension of the 1966 agreement concerning the British Indian Ocean Territory will be followed by discussions with Mauritius over the future sovereignty of the Chagos Islands.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Government is disappointed at recent action by Mauritius in seeking a UN General Assembly resolution requesting “an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965”. We believe this is an inappropriate use of the International Court of Justice advisory opinion mechanism and sets an unwelcome precedent for other bilateral disputes. Whilst we are disappointed that this item has been added to the UNGA agenda, we are pleased that discussions at UNGA will be deferred until at least June 2017 in order to allow for bilateral discussions with Mauritius. We are hopeful that we can reach an agreed way forward through such bilateral discussions.

Egypt: Aviation

Lord Stone of Blackheath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 19 September (HL1630), when flights between the UK and Sharm el-Sheikh will resume.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Government has not yet concluded that it is right to lift the restrictions on direct UK flights to and from Sharm el-Sheikh. The security of British nationals is the Government's top priority. Our security experts take account of many factors in providing advice on whether it is safe to fly to certain destinations.UK aviation security experts have worked closely with their Egyptian counterparts on the ground, sharing their expertise in establishing effective security arrangements. We continue to work in partnership in a spirit of cooperation, and are grateful for Egypt's close engagement and partnership. We look forward to achieving the return of flights once we can be assured that the necessary security environment can be sustained.

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Health Services

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of the Department for International Development's total overseas development aid was spent on sexual, reproductive, maternal and child health in (1) 2013, (2) 2014, and (3) 2015.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Department of International Development spent 12.4% of its official development assistance on sexual, reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in each year 2013 and 2014. Data for 2015 is not yet published.

Syria: Humanitarian Aid

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether international relief and resettlement aid has reached Manbij in Syria; and if not, what plans they have to make this possible.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: DFID partners, working with the local council, have already provided relief to Manbij city in the form of repairs to water and electricity networks, as well the provision of safe water, hygiene kits and support for waste removal. Our international NGO partners are also assessing needs and planning to provide further assistance.DFID supports the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Humanitarian Pooled Fund, which has allocated over $1 million for the prepositioning of humanitarian supplies for use in Manbij. These will be distributed as access into Manbij increases – it is currently hampered by the presence of unexploded ordnance.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Football Association

Lord Birt: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 12 September (HL1480), how they will establish whether the Football Association is adhering to the new Code of Governance.

Lord Ashton of Hyde: The new Governance Code for Sport in the UK will be published shortly. It will build on the existing governance requirements of UK Sport and Sport England and set out new governance standards that will be expected of all sports bodies seeking public funding. It will be for UK Sport and/or Sport England to determine compliance.

UK Withdrawal from EU

Baroness Quin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effects of the UK leaving the EU on the audio-visual industry.

Baroness Quin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what meetings they have held with representatives of the audio-visual industry about the implications for the industry of the result of the referendum on EU membership; and which government departments have been involved in such meetings.

Baroness Quin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to hold meetings with representatives of the audio-visual industry about the effects of the UK leaving the EU; and if so, which government departments will be involved in such meetings.

Lord Ashton of Hyde: The Government is determined to ensure the UK audio-visual industry thrives outside of the EU. The Secretary of State held a roundtable with key stakeholders to discuss implications for the industry, and over the coming weeks and months government will be engaging in further discussions with the businesses and key stakeholders.

Ministry of Defence

Lebanon: Military Intervention

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the government of Lebanon has requested British air support for its frontier and other military forces; and if so, what their response was.

Earl Howe: No formal request for air support to the Lebanese Armed Forces has been received from the Government of Lebanon. However, should the UK Government receive such a request, it would be given due consideration, in consultation with the counter-Daesh Coalition.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Supported Housing: Finance

Baroness Hollins: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guarantees they plan to give that, once the new funding systemfor supported housingcomes into place in 2019–20, existing tenants will not be affected negatively by any changes.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: The Government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable through our welfare reforms. That is why we have exempted supported housing from the Local Housing Allowance policy until 2019/20, from which point we will bring in a new funding model which will ensure that the sector continues to be funded at current levels, taking into account the effect of Government policy on social sector rents. The new funding model will include a ring-fenced local top-up to ensure that funding is used only for supported housing provision and will support existing tenants.The funding will be administered locally so that local authorities can respond flexibly to local need. We believe local authorities are best placed to make decisions about how to support vulnerable people in their areas and to commission the supported housing services that are needed locally.

Social Rented Housing: Finance

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they will ensure that the funds allocated for new housing are used promptly; what steps they are taking to ensure that the housing revenue account borrowing programme is fully used by local authorities and housing associations; and what assessment they have made of whether greater flexibility between allocations is now necessary.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: There are a number of government programmes that support the delivery of new homes including the biggest affordable housing programme since the 1970s.Government affordable housing programmes are bid-based. The Homes and Communities Agency manages programmes outside London, and the Greater London Authority in London. A programme is normally launched through a bid round with a publication of prospectus which sets out information required for bids, eligibility and assessment criteria and grant conditions. Providers can submit bids to the grant-giving body who assess bids based on the criteria set out in the prospectus, focusing on value for money and deliverability. This allows for flexibility between allocations because value for money can be assessed across products, tenures, geographies and the types of providers. The Homes and Communities Agency carries out quarterly contract reviews with each provider to ensure delivery is on track. Through this route we have delivered 193,000 affordable homes between 2011 and 2015, exceeding the target by 23,000.The Government also regularly monitors the additional borrowing that local authority have been allocated under the Housing Revenue Account borrowing programme to ensure delivery of the provision of new affordable homes. We also consider applications from local authorities seeking flexibility in the profiling of their borrowing allocations across years. However, flexibility is not needed between authorities’ allocations as the programme, which was time limited, is now closed, and authorities are making good progress in using their allocations to deliver affordable homes.